The co-head of rates trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific at Royal Bank of Scotland is to take a sabbatical, amid a difficult time for the UK bank.

Gerard Barrett, a veteran of the UK bank who previously headed US dollar and cross currency rates before taking his current role a little over a year ago, has decided to take a sabbatical, according to three people familiar with the situation.

Philip Hinder, his co-head, will take sole control while he is away.

While Barrett is expected to return to the UK bank, his decision to take some time off comes at a tricky time for RBS.

The rates business, which is the largest constituent part of RBS's markets business, ahead of currencies, asset-backed products and credit markets, saw a large fall in revenues last year — down 45% to £1.1 billion in 2013 from £1.9 billion in 2012.

Fixed-income revenues in the first quarter also look set to disappoint across the street, with JP Morgan and Citigroup reporting double-digit fixed income revenue declines in the first quarter versus the same period a year ago.

The UK bank has suffered from a number of senior departures from its sales and trading business in the past 12 months, including the former heads of global sales and Emea sales, the former head of FX sales in Emea, and the global head of macro client trading.

More recently, the departure of Suneel Kamlani, co-chief executive of the markets division, was announced when the bank unveiled a wide-ranging restructuring.

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As part of that revamp, the bank announced plans to merge seven divisions into three businesses. The markets business will move into one of these new units — corporate and institutional banking — which will also house business for UK and international large corporates and financial institutions.

This newly-combined unit will aim to be top five in what RBS defines as its core products: European foreign exchange, sterling debt capital markets and rates, international cash management, and trade finance.